If Things Were Different
by MorganvilleDaisy
Summary: Isn't it crazy how one small choice can affect your whole life? A story about how different things could be for everyone in Morganville if Claire wasn't so lucky to have found The Glass House. Friendships and relationships might be different.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N -** Hey! This is my first try at writing FanFiction for the great Morganville books, so I hope it's not a total mess. I've had this story in my head for quite some time now and I finally caved and started writing. It might seem a tad slow starting at the beginning, but it's going to stray from the original storyline quite a bit. Relationships are going to be different and so are some of the characters. Hope you enjoy! :)

**Chapter 1**

The day started like any ordinary Thursday for Claire. Her phone alarm woke her up extra early to do her laundry and shower in peace before anyone woke up. It had become sort of a routine for her once a week, and so far she's been able to avoid any sort of conflict. She reached over to her side table, grabbed her phone and quickly shut off the annoying alarm before flopping back onto the bed.

As she stared at the peeling paint on her dorm room ceiling she couldn't help her mind from wandering to the trouble she'd already found herself in after only being in Morganville for four weeks. She just couldn't help it. The words were out of her mouth before her brain had a chance to register who it was she was actually talking to. Monica Morrell. Queen Bee and ruthless bully to many victims at TPU. She'd somehow managed to get on her shitlist, just for correcting her. Okay, so maybe she'd embarrassed her a little but that was totally unintentional. Basically she'd made her look stupid in front of her friends and a group of jock looking types.

She was just minding her own business, walking to her next class when she heard Monica saying that World War 2 was that 'dumbass Chinese war thing.' Then she heard someone say.

"It wasn't." She'd stopped walking when she noticed all of their eyes turn to her. Most of them just looked shocked but Monica looked ready for the kill. It took her a few seconds to realise that it was her that had said that. She'd been so flustered she didn't know how she was able to continue talking. Her cheeks were on fire and her hands were shaking.

"I mean...It's an easy mistake. Um...It was with the Germans and the Japanese. You know, Pearl Harbor?"

After that it was all just one giant blur. There was laughter, embarrassment and a massive cloud of hatred sent her way. Since then she had a target on her back. She'd been shoved, tripped, had her books thrown out of her hands and had to deal with all the snickering and mean stared being thrown her way. She was used to that part though. Being a 16 year old at college made you stand out, most of the time in a bad way.

Banishing those thoughts from her mind for the time being she pulled herself out of bed and quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a faded black T-shirt. She gathered the clothes scattered about her floor as well as her wash bag and made her way out of her room. She quickly scanned the corridors to find them totally empty so she carried on walking quickly to the top floor where the laundry room was. It was actually more like a supply closet holding 2 washing machines and 2 dryers squashed together with just enough room to walk in front on them. She chose the more reliable washer out of the two and after it swallowed two of her quarters it finally started to work for her.

She knew she'd have time for a quick shower and to dry her hair before the laundry was done. So she did just that. But when she returned to the laundry room she found the washer open and all of her clothes gone. Well...not all of them. Mocking her at the bottom of the barrel was one pair of tatty panties.

"No!" She shouted, kicking the machine. Her breathing had started to pick up, they were practically all of the wearable clothes she owned and that wasn't a lot. She didn't have the money to buy anything new. Damn! This day just got worse and worse! She didn't doubt for a second who'd done this. It just had Monica and her Monikettes written all over it.

She ran her hand down her face and felt wetness. She didn't even notice she'd been crying. She had to get a hold of herself, the last thing she wanted was for them to hear her crying. She hated appearing weak. She sucked in a few quick breaths and wiped her face with her T-shirt. Reaching into the washing machine she grabbed the panties and shoved them into her jeans pocket before making her way back to her room. Luck obviously wasn't on her side.

She didn't remember much. There was pushes, hits and pain. Lots and lots of pain. Why, oh why did she have to go and hit Monica? The last thing she remembered was her cold, hatefilled voice.

"Tonight. You'll get what's coming to you, you freak. I'm going to make sure."

She might have blacked out, or was frozen by fear...she wasn't sure which. All she knew was that when she opened her eyes again she was alone in the hall and the light seemed a little brighter. Crap. How long had she been there on the cold floor? How come no one had come to help her? She groaned in pain as she readed into her pocket for her phone. _13:43pm. _HOURS?! She'd been there for hours?! Testing her arms and legs for any signs of damage she stretched out on the floor and found that the main source of the pain was coming from her head. She brought her hand up to find a giant bump. Oh. So that was why she was a little groggy.

Claire pulled herself up from the floor, using the wall for support and waited until the dizziness stopped. After she'd found her bearings, she slowly moved back up the stairs collecting her books as she went and walked to her room. She felt herself tear up again as she looked around. Of course they broke into her room and trashed it. She shouldn't have suspected anything less. Thinking on the spot she closed her bedroom door the best she could and grabbed her desk chair, wedging the door shut. Walking back to her bed she laid down gently and was asleep almost instantly.

**A/N -** I hope that there are people who actually read to the end of the chapter to see this, so thanks if you are! :D The next chapter is where things are going to change A LOT…

**Daisy x**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - **So, I had this chapter written too so I thought that I might as well update while I can. I hope that this chapter makes the story a little more interesting to read.

**Chapter 2**

She woke some time later to a pounding in her head and aches all over her body. She groaned as she reached into her top drawer for some painkillers but came up empty. Crap, she forgot that she'd ran out just the day before. She was in some serious pain, but she was at a loss. She couldn't really go to the onsite nurse, they'd never believe that she'd just 'fallen down the stairs', she looked an absolute mess. She groaned when she realised that all she could do was take a trip to the pharmacy in town. She forced herself to get out of bed and carefully tugged her backpack on before making her way out of the door. When she walked out of the building she noticed just how late it was. The sun was just starting to set but she calculated that she was probably able to make it there and back before night fall so she hobbled off on her way.

Claire wanted to make it in and out of the pharmacy as fast as she could. She just wanted to get her painkillers and get back to bed before class tomorrow. Luckily, the sales woman didn't look twice at her and her battered body as she handed over the change for the tablets and bottle of water. She took two of the tablets as soon as she'd left the pharmacy. It was starting to get darker and Monica's words ran through her brain. "Tonight. You'll get what's coming to you, you freak. I'm going to make sure." She shivered involuntarily and set off walking back to campus. She couldn't help but notice that the streets were empty, only the odd car passing by. That was weird.

She'd been walking for about ten minutes and she suddenly felt like someone was watching her. After looking around and seeing no-one she blamed it on her own stupid paranoia because of Monica's words. She walked for a few more minutes and the feeling still hadn't gone away. She took one more glance behind her and saw nothing again. She faced forward and went smashing into a cold, hard chest. She stumbled back and winced at the protest of her muscles.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." She mumbled, craning her neck to look at the man in front of her. The owner of the chest looked down at her and smirked. It creeped her out a little bit. He was tall, pale guy. Well over 6ft with dark hair and even darker eyes. His features were pointy which creeped her out even more. Especially because they caused such harsh shadows on his face.

"Claire Danvers?" He asked her in a low, angry tone. How did he know her name? She'd never seen him before and he looked too old to be a student. She knew she'd remember him if he was a professor but nothing rang a bell. Warning signs were going off in her head.

"I'm sorry, I just want to get back to my dorm." She said as she tried to step around him. He took hold of her upper arm strongly, making her hiss in pain.

"Now, I don't think I could let you do that, Miss Danvers..." He said leaning down to whisper in her ear. "You see, I was asked very nicely today by three very pretty girls to...handle a problem. Do you know what that might be?" She was crippled with fear, what on earth was he talking about? She was trying to think of a way to break free from his grasp but she could tell that it would be impossible. She started to shake all over. She didn't answer straight away until his hand gripped tighter on her upper arm.

"No." She squeaked out, He leaned into her ear until she could feel his cool lips touch her skin, he whisper/growled the answer.

"You."

She felt the colour drain from her face as the panic set in. Monica. This had to be what she was talking about. But would she really go this far? All of a sudden she felt herself being lifted by the throat and being pulled down an alleyway, now drenched in darkness. She screamed as she was slammed against the cold brick of the building, the pain in her head returning. She was struggling to breath around the hand holding tightly onto her throat. She was clawing and kicking out in front of her, but she just seemed to be hitting another brick wall. She couldn't find one soft piece of flesh to dig her fingers into. Useless. She was absolutely useless against her attacker. She was lifted until her feet were no longer on the floor, she was just hanging limp against the wall.

She finally opened her eyes and stopped breathing altogether when she looked to the face of her attacker. He had..._fangs! _He was grinning at her wickedly as she tried to make sense of everything in her head. She stiffened when he leaned in close and ran his nose along her neck.

"You smell so sweet. I'm going to enjoy this." She didn't even have time to analyse anything further before he lunged for her, biting into the tender flesh on her neck. She tried to scream but a hand muffled her attempts. _What the hell was going on?! _One strong hand was wrapped around her neck and the other was covering her mouth, pressing her head into the wall. She was slowly losing consciousness. The last thing she remembered was the hand moving from her mouth and to the back of her head, pulling her harder into his mouth and the cold stone of a body pressing into her. Then, it was all black.

**A/N - **I'll hopefully be able to upload another chapter tomorrow or the next day. I hope that people are actually reading. Review and let me know :D

Daisy x


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